Month: July 2017

We’re taking August off from storytimes so as one last hurrah we did a unicorn theme. There are some really cute, readable unicorn books out there! We talked about the letter U and other things that start with that letter. Here’s what else we did…..

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Earlier this summer, as I was putting together a summer/beach-themed booklist for my library’s website I thought of one of my all-time favorite beach picture books, How Will We Get to the Beach?. It’s apparently, out of print because my library no longer owns it and isn’t able to get a copy. Ugh. Why do good books have to go out of print?! With sweet illustrations and a story that invited kids to guess what was missing, it was a great, no fail read aloud. Read on for a few of my other favorites that sadly, are no longer available. If any of you have any of these books, I’d love to know!

When I found out this one was out of print I was saddened. I was bummed. This was basically a permanent fixture in my read aloud rotation because it was so fun to read, audiences loved it and it always, ALWAYS worked! Always! I read it to everybody! Now I’ve got a whole new class of storytimers that will not know it. In the ‘something gets eaten’ genre this book is second only to…..

Without a doubt the best title in the ‘something gets eaten’ niche which is my favorite of picture book niches. My favorite memory of this book happened a few years ago with a kindergarten class that was pretty evenly split between boys and girls. As I neared the end I asked them if they wanted me to keep reading or stop where I was. “Keep reading!” they said. When I finished the boys’ response was, “Cool!” All the girls had a look of horror mixed with disgust. I read it in a storytime and even parents were shocked. One said to me, “I hadn’t taught my daughter about the circle of life yet!” You’re welcome. I love when people have a strong reaction to a book. I recently had to withdraw the last copy in the library system due to damage. I couldn’t bear to part with it. It now lives in our storytime collection.

A story about a cute, little alligator who wakes up one day feeling bitey. Hey, who hasn’t? Oh, just me? Anyway, he goes around biting things until he learns his lesson. I’ve gotten over the fact that this book is unavailable but I still sometimes feel bitey.

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Whenever I’m walking through the stacks, it never fails that books on display will practically jump right off the shelf and into my hand because of the eye-catching covers. It’s how I end up with most of the books I check out and take home. Currently I have 12 books out. I can’t read 12 books in one checkout period! Why do I do this to myself?!? Anyway, here are a few books that have caught my eye recently. A few of them I read and in some cases the book was just as good as it’s cover. If only they all were. One even inspired a dessert! On with the cover judging!

Children’s

I’m really drawn by the color choices in children’s book covers. How beautiful is The Key to Extraordinary? The Marvels is exquisite. Haven’t got around to that one yet but it’s ‘on the list’ as they say.

YA

Love all these covers. I’ve got The List checked out right now and can’t wait to read it. There’s something about the colors and simplicity of Landscape that reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting. And having read Twinkie Pie, I can attest that both the book and the dessert were good!

See the Twinkine Pie I made at the bottom of this post!

Adult

I think that adult book covers are the most deceptive. So enticing and often so disappointing. I’ve been led astray before. I’m looking at you Bernadette and Letters to a Future Lover. Still, dying to read Invisible Life. That cover is gooood.

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I started this blog partly as a way to keep track of the storytimes I did and to share what I’d learned in almost 15 years of doing storytimes. It’s hard to get good photos of a storytime in action with littles moving all about! Anywho, enjoy these random shots from my most recent storytimes along with the answers to a couple of FAQs.

How do you setup storytime?

Like this. All the books that I might read. Our Ipad with my storytime playlist and a Beats Pill. Storytime stickers. Bins with scarves, ribbons and shaker eggs. My song cube. And a couple of props. Everything I need is in reach. I don’t have problems with anyone removing things from my table. Once in awhile kids want to get the Ipad or the buckets so I sit them at the back out of reach.

What do you in storytime?

STEM activities like fizzy concoctions.

Art/messy play like painting with shaving cream.

Sensory play.

Large motor play.

I have never seen kids working as hard at play as I did with this sensory table setup. Cardboard boxes I cut up and tubes crisscrossing through them. Kids surrounded this the entire time. Heads down, scooping, digging, pouring, figuring out what was happening to the beans they poured down a tube, catching the beans as they spilled out. The kids played easily with each other, sharing cups and space. I could’ve used a bigger table!